In the ever-evolving mobile world of people and systems, it is becoming increasingly desirable to know the whereabouts of such entities, and more specifically the whereabouts of people relative to other locations of interest. Geo-fence is a technology that defines a virtual perimeter relative to a physical geographic location. When a device, for example, coupled with a location-based service, interacts with the virtual perimeter, the user is notified via the device of information associated with the geo-fence.
Notifications can be set on any geographic point of interest, such as a business. Consider an example where a user needs to fill a gas tank. The user sets a group of reminders on all gas stations in the area. On the way home, the user triggers the geo-fence of a specific gas station and automatically receives a notification that the specific gas station is near.
The size of the perimeter associated with a point of interest can be significantly bigger than the footprint of the business itself to provide the notification about the business to the user when the user is nearby. Moreover, traditional solutions for geo-fences use a fixed size perimeter in association with a place of interest, which implies that the probability of receiving a reminder for a business over time remains the same, since the perimeter for that point of interest remains the same. The use of static perimeters limits the benefits of a geo-fence that could otherwise be available to the user.